In June of this year, WEATHERBIRD II, a 115-foot research vessel trolled the Pacific Ocean dumping more than 20 tons of iron dust into the water near the Gallapagos Islands. Why? This proved to be the first attempt to profit from the long studied however unproved antidote to global warming. This is an idea spawned by the company, Planktos, spearheaded by D. Russ George a Greenpeacer and environmental project manager with the Canadian government. The iron dust has caused phytoplankton to bloom upon the ocean's surface which should, in theory, then suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere by the tons and sink it deep into the ocean.

These controversial and speculative startups have many disbelievers scoffing at any investor willing to pump their dough into his companies. Nonetheless, they have and the ball continues to roll for George. But dumping iron dust into the ocean is supposedly not totally crazy, oceanographers say that studies show that phytoplankton blooms do actually absorb huge amounts of CO2. These same water scientists are also leery of manipulating ocean chemistry for profit and it is not yet clear just how much CO2 that the dead plankton will drag into the depths of the ocean.

ADVERTISEMENT

George claims there is money to be made in "iron dumping" by selling credits on the nascent carbon-swap markets. While the pure research community says this idea needs more study George stands by his belief that this is a useful technology. This entrepreneur is the among the golden boys for long shots and big risks. His other company, D2Fusion, aims to commercialize the elusive cold fusion technology, via a smale-scale, room-temperature nuclear reaction that mainstream scientists to this very day proclaim is still as far out as the day when pigs fly.